1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to: improved eyewear, e.g., eyeglasses, which have improvements in comfort, safety, wear ability, and convenience, based upon improvements in the contact (bearing) surfaces where the eyeglasses touch the body; to methods, articles, etc. for providing such improvements; and to methods for improving acceptance of such improved eyeglasses, especially improved methods of doing business.
2. Description of Related Art
The art includes the use of pads on the nosepieces of eyeglasses to improve comfort, one example being described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,104, Rice, issued Jan. 24, 1978. This patent describes spaced parallel tubing mounted on the pad, said tubing being compressed against the sides of the nose to provide a cushion when the eyeglasses are in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,716 to Combs, issued Oct. 23, 1990, states that prior art discloses “Foam rubber nose pads, ribbed pads or pads formed with a rough surface have been devised to hold a pair of eyeglasses in position on a wearer's nose. Such nose pads are permanently formed as a part of the eyeglasses; are permanently mounted on the eyeglass nose pads, typically through the use of an adhesive; or are removably attached to the eyeglass frames via screws or snap-in projections. In addition, such nose pads have been specifically formed for a particular size and shape eyeglass frame.” The '716 patent discloses pads for nosepieces of eyeglasses with a Velcro™ connection where the pad surface is “Preferably, a fabric material, such as cotton, corduroy, etc.” The patent states: “FIG. 2 depicts one embodiment of the sheet 38 in which the sheet 38 is formed of a ribbed, corduroy material. This material includes a plurality of thin, spaced ribs 44 which extend along the length of one side of the sheet 38. Such ribs 44 provide additional adhesion of the sheet 38 to the nose of a wearer of the eyeglasses 14 and prevent or minimize slippage of the eyeglasses 14 down the nose of the wearer.” In FIG. 2 the corduroy is mounted so that the ribs are roughly horizontal. Corduroy is traditionally made of cotton fibers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,385 issued to Flores et al. May 25, 1999, discloses pads for both the nosepiece and earpieces of eyeglasses, said pads having adhesive to attach the pads to the eyeglasses and adhesive to attach the pads to the skin.
Pads designed to keep eyeglasses in place in U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,594, issued to Hamano, Sep. 4, 2001 are attached to the nose and the eyeglasses by adhesive and magnetic means for keeping the two pads in contact.
Other attempts to keep eyewear in place are disclosed in: U.S. Pat. No. 2,561,402 to Nelson, issued July 1951; U.S. Pat. No. 3,684,356 to Bates, issued August 1972; U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,163, to Breault, issued on Nov. 8, 1988 (discloses non-adhesive means for attaching nose pads to eyeglasses); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,903 to Jannard et al. issued Oct. 8, 1991.
There are several commercially available products, which are pads that have glue on one side, covered by a “release sheet” that is removed so the pads can be attached to the nosepieces of eyeglasses. These products are typically advertised to provide improved resistance to slippage and/or comfort. Usually, the material is some kind of foam that provides only limited compressibility.